Arthur and the Invisibles (2006)

Ten-year-old Arthur, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from being demolished, goes looking for some much-fabled hidden treasure in the land of the Minimoys, tiny people living in harmony with nature.

Director:

Luc Besson

Writers:

Céline Garcia, Luc Besson

Stars:

Freddie Highmore, Mia Farrow, Madonna

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Freddie Highmore	...	Arthur
Mia Farrow	...	Granny
Ron Crawford	...	Archibald (voice)
Penny Balfour	...	Arthur's Mother
Doug Rand	...	Arthur's Father
Adam LeFevre	...	Davido
Jean Bejote Njamba	...	Massai Chief
Saul Jephcott	...	Police Officer #1
Lee Delong	...	Saleslady (as Lee de Long)
Christian Erickson	...	Antique Dealer
Eric Balliet	...	Mover #1
Oxmo Puccino	...	Mover #2
Robert William Bradford	...	Baliff
Jerry Di Giacomo	...	Repairman (voice)
Bienvenue Kindoki	...	Matassalai #1

Storyline

Arthur is a spirited ten-year old whose parents are away looking for work, whose eccentric grandfather has been missing for several years, and who lives with his grandmother in a country house that, in two days, will be repossessed, torn down, and turned into a block of flats unless Arthur's grandfather returns to sign some papers and pay off the family debt. Arthur discovers that the key to success lies in his own descent into the land of the Minimoys, creatures no larger than a tooth, whom his grandfather helped relocate to their garden. Somewhere among them is hidden a pile of rubies, too. Can Arthur be of stout heart and save the day? Romance beckons as well, and a villain lurks.

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Plot Keywords:

treasure | princess | underground world | debt | garden | 

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Taglines:

Real Heroes. Size Zero.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for fantasy action and brief suggestive material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

France

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Arthur and the Invisibles

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Budget:

$86,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,702,789, 14 January 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,132,763

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,325,743

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, Avalanche Productions, Metro Voices

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(At around one hour and two minutes) The intro to David Bowie's song "Let's Dance" plays at the beginning of the fight song on the record player. David Bowie is also the voice of Maltazard in the English version of the film.

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Goofs

(at around 54 mins) When Granny hangs up the lite lamp on the porch, she is unable to reach as its too high. Then the next scene, and another later, she is able to reach it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [a photo album unlatches and opens to a picture of a bearded man] This is Archibald Suchot, a treasure hunter, explorer, and engineer. He spent 10 years in Africa building every type of useful thing. Oh, by the way, it's in the heart of Africa that our story begins.
Narrator: [cut to a country road] Well, this really isn't Africa, it's Connecticut, and this is the house Archibald lived in before he mysteriously disappeared. But that's a story that Archibald's grandson would be more qualified ...

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Crazy Credits

The credits feature the characters walking by the names of their voice actors and sometimes pausing briefly to wave. The human characters (Arthur's grandmother, parents,etc.) are in Minimoy form. Luc Besson is also seen in Minimoy form.

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Alternate Versions

The theatrical release has the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer opening and closing logos, but on home video releases, all MGM references are removed.

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Connections

Followed by Arthur and the Great Adventure (2009)

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Soundtracks

Lonesome Town
Written by Baker Knight
Performed by Ricky Nelson
© EMI Catalogue Partnership / EMI Unart Catalogue INC / Matragun Music Inc
Courtesy of EMI Catalogue Partnership France, Sony ATV Music Publishing France and EMI Music France

User Reviews

Great animation, fun film

Took my nine-year old daughter and we both really enjoyed it. I found the animated portions far more engaging than the human-acted portions, but that wasn't a real distraction. The other commenters on the film here in IMDb seem to be very annoyed by the lack of a completely cohesive plot, but hey, this isn't Citizen Kane! We really work hard to find films we will take our daughter to see, and having viewed the preview some time ago, I was happy to stumble upon the opening of this movie this weekend. I can guarantee that we'll see it again before it leaves the theatres and will likely purchase the DVD. The violence was minimal and well-handled (vague battle scenes), the scary parts not over-the-top scary, and the light touch with the romance was appreciated by the mom of a pre-pre-teen. Nice family movie.